In a potentiometer setup, if the wire is made of a material with higher resistivity, what will be the effect on the potential gradient?
Practice Questions
1 question
Q1
In a potentiometer setup, if the wire is made of a material with higher resistivity, what will be the effect on the potential gradient?
It increases
It decreases
It remains the same
It becomes zero
Higher resistivity increases the resistance of the wire, which can decrease the potential gradient for a given voltage.
Questions & Step-by-step Solutions
1 item
Q
Q: In a potentiometer setup, if the wire is made of a material with higher resistivity, what will be the effect on the potential gradient?
Solution: Higher resistivity increases the resistance of the wire, which can decrease the potential gradient for a given voltage.
Steps: 5
Step 1: Understand what resistivity means. It is a property of a material that affects how easily electricity can flow through it.
Step 2: Know that a wire with higher resistivity will have higher resistance when the length and cross-sectional area are the same.
Step 3: Remember that in a potentiometer, the potential gradient is the change in voltage per unit length of the wire.
Step 4: Realize that if the resistance of the wire increases (due to higher resistivity), it can affect how much voltage is dropped across the wire.
Step 5: Conclude that for a given total voltage applied across the wire, a higher resistance (from higher resistivity) will lead to a lower potential gradient.
